POLITICS

“Kocharyan-Sargsyan criminal regime impedes settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict,” said Armenian human rights activist, head of the Intra-national Liberation Movement Organization Vahan Martirosyan as he addressed a peacebuilding conference in Baku.

Titled “Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict: main obstacles and settlement prospects. View from Armenia and Azerbaijan”, the conference brought together representatives of the Azerbaijani and Armenian civil society institutions, international organizations and the diplomatic corps accredited to Azerbaijan.

Martirosyan said those who committed genocide against Azerbaijanis are now in power in Armenia and are committing genocide against their own citizens. “If a referendum is held in Nagorno-Karabakh, 80 per cent of the population will chose to remain part of Azerbaijan because they have never seen anything good from the regime by which they were taken hostages. People living in Armenia face many social problems, they need water, food. It is time to make peace, whether we want it or not.”

“The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict will definitely be solved. Kocharyan-Sargsyan criminal regime is impeding settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict. But never has a criminal regime emerged victorious over international law. This government relies on force, and it will be forcibly toppled. After that Azerbaijanis and Armenians will live in peace. This is my forecast as an expert. This will be achieved through public diplomacy,” he said.

Martirosyan also hailed multiculturalism and tolerance in Azerbaijan. He said that a large number of Armenians live in Azerbaijan in peace. “Armenian monuments are being preserved in Azerbaijan, but in Armenia, all mosques and monuments belonging to Azerbaijanis were destroyed,” he added.

Armenian writer, public figure Vahe Avetyan said: “Who said that we cannot be together. Only those who lack common sense can say this. We are together. Look, I am here. We do not need international organizations, we can solve our problems on our own. We must build relations between writers, NGOs that want peace.”

On behalf of the Armenian people, Avetyan apologized to the people of Azerbaijan for Khojaly genocide.

Prior to the conference Martirosyan and Avetyan visited the Khojaly memorial in Baku.